E-learning Issues in Online Marathon Application for Teaching a Foreign Language to Hard of Hearing Students

Abstract

Nowadays, the need to improve Internet accessibility brings the assessment of e-learning formats effectiveness to immediate attention of researches in inclusive higher education. This project aim was to understand the specifics of implementation of an online marathon for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students who learn a foreign language. The authors noticed some differences in the dynamics and activity of DHH students doing online courses in different formats. There was no statistically significant difference in the amount of homework submitted on time between the two formats. However, when students participated in the online marathon, the number of students who completed most of the assignments on time, and the frequency of the submitted assignments increased. The number of completed assignments increased steadily during the online marathon, while the number of submitted assignments decreased in the middle part of the electronic learning course. The microcourse which was designed and implemented in the online marathon format for DHH students at the M.T. Kalashnikov IzhSTU was included in the list of the “Marathon of Best Practices for Applying New Technologies for Education, Training, and Socialization of Students with Limited Health Abilities and with Disabilities in the Universities of the Russian Federation.”